Sunday, November 16, 2008

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all." Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

By Scoti Springfield Domeij

I enjoy the humor of language. Oxymorons—oxy means sharp, moron means dull—combines incongruous or contradictory terms. Take for instance the word "sophomore." It's Greek roots are oxymorons. Sophos means wise. Moros means stupid. Hardly a description of a second-year high school or college student. Writers inject oxymorons for a humorous, ironic, or rhetorical effect or to express an opinion or call attention to a contradiction. They appear in poetry, literature, advertising, and popular language. Oxymorons in literature appearing in Romeo and Juliet are damned saint, honorable villain, loyal deceit. Tennyson's Idylls of the King contains two oxymorons: "And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true."

2 comments:

This is a great resource! I will use some of the examples with my English Language Learners. Thanks!Beth Fehlbaum, author (and teacher)Courage in Patience, a story of hope for those who have endured abusehttp://courageinpatience.blogspot.comCh. 1 & Book trailer are online!